Yes: I exist inside my body. I’m not carrying the sun and the moon in my pocket. I don’t want to conquer worlds because I slept badly, And I don’t want to eat the world for breakfast because I have a stomach. Indifferent? No: a son of the earth, who, if he jumps, it’s wrong, A moment in the air that’s not for us, And only happy when his feet hit the ground again, Pow! In reality where nothing’s missing! (6/20/1919). Alberto Caeiro
About This Quote

In the first verse of this poem, a young boy is trying to convince himself that he is a real boy. He knows that he isn’t who he looks like, and he knows that he isn’t really a boy. But he also knows that he has a body, and so he realizes that it is possible for him to exist inside of his body. In the second verse of the poem, the boy is trying to convince himself that being a real boy means having no desire to conquer the world.

He’s seen how other boys have done things, and so he tells himself that if he doesn’t want to conquer worlds then there must be something wrong with him. In the third verse, the boy tries to convince himself that if he doesn’t want to conquer the world then he shouldn’t eat it for breakfast. Again, this can sound like a silly reason to stop conquering the world, but really it is because the boy realizes as much as he wants his breakfast, as much as his body might be hungry, that it is wrong for him to do such a thing because then there would be nothing left for other people.

So in reality where nothing’s missing! (6/20/1919)

Source: The Collected Poems Of Alberto Caeiro

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